ABSTRACT
The intention of this chapter is to illuminate what is missing in clinical research about the disorder of hoarding by approaching the experience from a depth psychological expression of individuals' stories and not their pathology. An ensouled language was sought by transforming the written word from analysis to translation and allowing what was obscure and clinical in its meaning to be a guide to the ways of psyche and soul searching. From a depth psychological perspective, the lived experiences of individuals and their core schemas of value, worth, and personal identity have a direct connection to excessive acquisition of objects and the condition of hoarding. Six core concepts were identified that evoked reflection and insight: hoarding as a disorder; perspectives on treatment; objects and meaning; making shame with clutter; loss and attachment to clutter; and diagnosis versus soul work. The final element of the depth psychological approach is commencing the work with soul and psyche in mind.
